Maersk India records 43% growth in the exports rail movement of containerised cargo in 2021
The global logistics ecosystem has been disrupted from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maersk had all its vessels sailing, warehouses functioning, and ports operating. One particular challenge that Maersk faced during this period in India was moving cargo on landside – from manufacturers facilities to the port for exports or vice versa for imports, according to the company's release.
At the same time, in line with the goal of creating integrated solutions for customers that go end-to-end, teams within Maersk started focusing on understanding customer requirements and designing tailor-made solutions. Increasingly moving cargo on rail instead of road was one such solution.
Using rail to move cargo had multiple benefits for Maersk’s customers:
Up to 30% quicker transit times as compared road transport
Solid, unhindered connectivity between ports and manufacturing hubs
Scheduled movement for better predictability
Around 14.5 MT lower carbon footprint
As Maersk started developing customised solutions for customers rather than offering them off-the-shelf options, deeper insights into customers’ needs and challenges started unfolding. Using this data, Maersk developed 13 new weekly dedicated rail services of which some were based on the ‘assured transit’ concept on the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC).
These rail services were designed in such a way that different industrial verticals were to be connected to the ports. Examples of these were the ‘Automotive Express’ running between the Northern Capital Region’s (NCR) automotive manufacturing hub and the port of APM Terminals Pipavav, Gujarat or the ‘Retail Express’ that ran on DFC to give assured transit time to lifestyle and apparels sector. The benefits of dedicated solutions like ‘Retail Express’ were multi-fold – customers could reduce their inventory hold by almost 10% and were able to connect to ocean transportation leg in time, saving them penalty costs too.
Maersk became the pioneer of offering ‘Assured transit times’ with its rail solutions to customers. The forward-looking solutions developed are expected to aid the rising demand for sectors such as eCommerce through the dedicated services. eCommerce, which has traditionally run on road transit, is expected to move towards rail even more in the near future as it gives assured transit for time-sensitive cargo.
Maersk witnessed 43% growth in the movement of containerised export cargo on rail in 2021 and 23% growth on rail for import and export combined.
About A.P. Moller – Maersk
A.P. Moller - Maersk is an integrated container logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers’ supply chains. As the global leader in shipping services, the company operates in 130 countries and employs roughly 95,000 people.
